Ireland Under-20s: The Season So Far

Eric Elwood's Ireland Under-20 side stole a march on the seniors when they secured a Triple Crown of their own by beating Scotland 31-8 at Falkirk Stadium on Friday night. We take a look at their season so far.

Four matches played, four wins. Former Connacht and Ireland out-half Elwood is having a great first season as an international coach. Ably assisted by Dan McFarland and Phil Orr, the Galway man has his charges in sight of a Grand Slam in Italy next Friday but was mightily relieved to see off the Scots.

"Relief would be the strongest emotion now," he told reporters afterwards. "I gave them a bit of a rollicking at half-time but we controlled the game a lot better tactically in the second half.

"The final try showed the way this team can play. There was some great handling. There was a lot of pressure going into the game, given what was at stake."

Having drawn level at 3-3 just before the break, Ireland managed to boss the second half in Falkirk with a penalty try and seven-pointers from centre Darren Cave, hooker Richard Sweeney and winger and man of the match Keith Earls seeing them to victory.

One of the big pluses of this U-20 team is its ability to perform under pressure and the way they put in 80-minute performances, working for each other right until the final whistle.

They have really stepped up to the mark, holding their nerve to win late not just in Wales in their opening match, but against France - the Under-21 World champions - and England at Dubarry Park.

The Irish back line has been unchanged throughout the Six Nations, another important factor. The back three of Felix Jones, Shane Monahan and Keith Earls have all come to the fore, contributing four of Ireland's eight tries in the 2007 tournament.

Ian Keatley has been coolness personified over some decisive place-kicks. The UCD out-half has scored 38 points (7 conversions, 7 penalties and 1 drop goal) of Ireland's 80 points so far in the tournament.

There has also been consistency in the selection of the pack with hooker Richard Sweeney, who has scored two tries, tighthead prop Jamie Hagan, locks Conor McInerney and Andrew Browne and back rowers Thomas Anderson and David Pollock starting all four of Ireland's matches to date.

Queen's star Pollock is the Irish captain and a very able one according to assistant coach McFarland. "In David, the team have not only an outstanding individual player but also an excellent leader," commented the former Connacht prop.

Pollock and his team-mates take on the Italian Under-21 side on Friday (Santa Colomba Stadium, Benevento, kick-off 2.30pm (local time) with a championship and Grand Slam double up for grabs - if you are heading over early to Italy for the senior game, why not take in the U-20 fixture too and cheer on our stars of the future!